System of steam-boiler feed-water injection



G. l. LEONARD-AND C. A. PARKS.

SYSTEM OF STEAM BOILER FEED WATER INJECTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20; 1918.

I 1 335 17 Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

GEORGE I. LEONARD AND CLIFTON A. PARKS,-OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SYSTEM OF STEAIVLBOILER FEED-WATER INJECTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

Application filed. March 20, 1918. Serial No. 223,637.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE I. LEONARD following is the specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a system which will be automatic in its oper- 'ation, will have few moving parts and be very simple in construction, thus requiring very little labor or attention to maintain it in good operation.

In carrying out this invention we employ three pipes which enter the boiler. The upper two enter at such points as will represent the allowable difference in level of the water, while the third pipe, which constitutes the feed water pipe, may enter at any convenient point at the lower side of'the boiler,

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a; boiler and a, diagrammatic plan of the injector connected thereto;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of aninjector and steam thermostat;

Fig. 3 is a front view of a portion of the same;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the valve lifting lever taken at dotted line 4:, Fig. 2.

5 is a pipe entering the boiler at the lower water level in the boiler and connecting at its outer end to an elbow 6, which supports a tube 7 of highly expansive metal under con.

ditions of heat.

Tube 7 is capped at 8 by a piece having wings 9 to which are attached rods 10 of a low co-eflicient of expansion under heat. These rods in the diagrammatic representation are attached to a piece 11, which hinges into a lever arm 12 which hinges at 13 to the elbow 6.

The outer end of lever arm 12 carries a trigger movement 14, which is normally held in position by the spring 15.

A pipe 16 enters the boiler at the upper water level and is connected at its outer end to an injector 17. At the lower end of the injector is a valve 18 normally held in closed position by spring 19 and carrying on its stem a lever arm 20. A pipe enters injector 17 at 21 and has a check valve 22 in its line which allows passage of water in the direction of the adjacent arrow. The lower end of this pipe extends to a water supply tank or system 23. A pipe 24 connects with the injector 17 just below valve 18 and also connects with the water supply 23. A pipe connects to injector 17 at 25 and contains in its line a check valve 26 which allows water to flow in the direction of the adjacent arrow and enter the boiler at 27.

' In operation, when the water in the boiler has evaporated until it is below the top of the hole in the pipe 5, the water which was contained in tube 7 will run back into the boiler and will be replaced by steam at a much higher temperature. The tube 7, having a relatively large expansion, will become longer and will pull the rods 10 upward,

which upward movement will draw the at-.

tached lever arm 12 also upward, and the attached latch 14 will engage the lever arm 20, thereby opening valve 18. As valve 18 is opened the pressure in pipe 16 is relieved and the steam pressure of the boiler drives any condensed water out of pipe 16, through the injector 17, and through valve 18 and into the water reservoir 23.

When the water has been driven out of pipe 16 the well known injector action due to instantaneous condensation with maintained velocity starts and water is pumped from reservoir 23 through the injector and back again by way of valve 18 to the reservoir. The heating, and therefore the expansion of tube 7, is not instantaneous; therefore, as the latch 14 is gradually moved upward a point will soon be reached where the lever arm 20 engaging the latch will not overlap and the lever arm will snap back to normal position by virtue of the tension of the spring 19, thus closing valve 18 and forcing the water being pumpedto open valve 26 andflow into the boiler. This pumping will continue until the water level has reached the steam outlet 16 and water runs into the injector, thereby cutting off the steam and stopping the action of the injector.

them, the entire system is ready for a renewed pumping action when the demand comes.

We do not wish in this specification to limit ourselves to the exact mechanical construction shown, but to cover broadly any construction depending fundamentally on the principles involved in automatically starting and stopping the action of an injector by means of the rise or fall of the water in a boiler past fixed points for its exit] We claim:

'1. A system of steam boiler feed-water injection consisting of, in combination a boiler, a thermostat, an injector, an overflow pipe, water supply pipes and a relief valve, said thermostat connected to the steam supply of said boiler, means for slowly opening said relief valve in overflow pipe by action of said thermostat, means for instantaneously closing said relief valve when said thermostatic action has reached a certain stage, means forv conducting water supply to said injector and means for conducting water supply to said boiler.

2. A system of steam boiler feed-water injection consisting of, in combination, a boiler, a thermostat, an injector, an overflow pipe, water supply pipes and a relief valve, said thermostat operating by heat from steam or water taken at a specified low water level in boiler, said injector operating or stopping action by means of steam or water entering at a higher specified water level in boiler, said relief valve located in overflow pipe and opening by the action of said thermostat, means for instaneously closing said relief valve when thermostatic action has reached a certain point, means for conducting water supply to said injector and means for conducting water supply from injector to boiler.

3. A system of steam boiler feed-water injection consisting of, in combination, a boiler, a thermostat, an injector, an overflow pipe, water supply pipesand a relief valve, said thermostat operating by heat from steam or water taken at a specified low water level in boiler, said injector operating or stopping action by means of steam or water entering atahigher specified water level in boiler, said relief valve located in overflow pipe and opening by the action of said thermostat, means for instantaneously closing said relief valve when thermostatic action has reached a certain point, means for conducting water supply from injector to boiler, means for preventing return of boiler water through water supply line from injector, means for preventing a return of water to the source of supply when injector has ceased towork. V

4. A system of steam boiler feed-water injection, consisting of, in combination, a boiler, a thermostat, an injector, an overflow pipe, water supply pipes and a relief valve, a tube entering said boiler at such a point as will represent the high level of water in the boiler, atube entering the boiler at such a point as will represent the lower level of water in theboiler and a tube entering the boiler at a convenient point for supplying feed water thereto, the upper tube connecting with a steam injector, the tuberrepresenting the lower water level connecting with a tube having a higher coeflicient of expansion under heat than surrounding substances and being so positioned that when the water in said boiler reaches the said lower level,'the water of condensation contained therein will run out and be replaced bythe higher temperature steam, thereby increasing the length of the highly expansive tube, means for utilizing this expansion to momentarily open a relief valve in said overflow pipe, means for instantaneously closing said valve when said-highly expansive tube has attained a part or all of its expansion, a pipe connecting the water supply with the injector, a pipe connectingthe injector to the boiler for its water supply, a check valve in the water supply line between boiler and injector so positioned as to prevent water returning to the injector, a check valve in water supply line so positioned as to prevent water returning from the injector to water supply.

GEORGE I. LEONARD. CLIFTON A. PAR-KS,

Witnesses:

Harris B. LEHMAN, FRANK J. IRVING. 

